Mariners don’t offer contract to Langerhans

The Seattle Mariners chose not to tender a contract for next season to Ryan Langerhans by Saturday’s 9 p.m. deadline, meaning the outfielder becomes a free agent and can now negotiate with any team.

Ryan Langerhans

The move leaves the Mariners with two openings on their 40-man roster and clearly one of those is going to be used on a left fielder.

The only outfielders currently on the Mariners’ 40-man are Ichiro Suzuki, Franklin Gutierrez, Michael Saunders and minor-league prospects Greg Halman and Ezequiel Carrera, unless you want to toss in designated hitter Ken Griffey Jr.

The club just signed veteran outfielder Corey Patterson to a minor-league deal this week, so he will compete for a spot in spring training but is not currently protected on the 40-man roster.

Major League clubs must make contract offers to every player on their 40-man roster who is not already signed for the 2010 season by Saturday at 9 p.m.

Arbitration-eligible players who are tendered contracts may either agree to a contract or enter arbitration proceedings with the club.

In the Mariners’ case, that now applies to Gutierrez and pitchers Felix Hernandez, Mark Lowe and David Aardsma.

Langerhans, by being non-tendered, now can negotiate as a free agent with any team, including Seattle.

The 29-year-old played in 38 games for Seattle last year after being acquired by trade from the Washington Nationals for Mike Morse.

He hit .235 with 10 RBIs and three home runs, including walk-off home runs on Aug. 7 against Tampa Bay and Aug. 25 against Oakland.